Stuart MacDonald talks with Steve Rubel of Edelman and Micropersuasion.com This is a summary of a much longer discussion.

SM: How is blogging impacting the practice of Public Relations?

SR: It allows PR firms to have a closer relationship with people. In fact, they have to.

SM: Richard Edelman, the son of the founder, has bet the farm on blogging and other ideas around consumer self-organization. Peers are the most trusted source of authority when people look for recommendations.

SR: Advertising is still working though. The question is how dollars are slipping away from TV. Marketing isn't dying, PR isn't dying but new disciplines are evolving.

SM: Is the industry fearful of these changes.

SR: There is a lot of fear but there are also success stories - they need numbers and proofs.

SM: How can you tell who is credible?

SR: The community will tell us who is credible - links are the benchmark. The community does a good job of self-monitoring. There is an inclination to go with numbers but it is not a numbers game. It's like a "T" with the horizontal bar being the overall audience but the vertical element a much smaller but more important structure to the whole. It is a different model.

SM: What's got to happen for the agency world to get them to wake up to this demand?

SR: They are beginning to get it - they have to understand that narrow or niche is good. We learn as we go.

Audience: Are blogs impacting the executive suite?

SR: Not by direct blog post but by the subsequent press coverage.

SM: MySpace doesn't register in the general discussion Canada.

SR: Look at social-networkinng in general - look for the centres of gravity. What are the terms of service for that community. How (...read more...)